Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette fileCornerback E.J. Biggers (1), shown picking up yardage following an interception during WMU's upset win over Illinois last fall, was drafted by a home-state team. The North Miami Beach product was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

E.J. Biggers

KALAMAZOO -- Eventually, E.J. Biggers sought refuge in a nap and then some playoff basketball on a different channel.

Jamarko Simmons and Londen Fryar chose a more torturous trek, languishing through all seven-plus hours of Sunday's NFL Draft coverage.

However it was done, there really wasn't a satisfying escape or any way to speed up time for Western Michigan University's four remaining NFL hopefuls.

"Draft day was horrible," said Fryar, who watched from his father's church in New Jersey. "I'm drained. I'm drained, man."

"It wears on you," said Simmons, who spent Sunday at his grandmother's house in Flint. "It's a long day."

Biggers experienced "relief" first. Tampa Bay selected the former Broncos cornerback with the eighth pick of the seventh and final round (217th overall).

"I've been working real hard for this the last couple of months, really for the last 21 years of my life," said Biggers, sounding weary and calm, though occasionally flirting with emotion, by phone from Miami.

"It's a great feeling right now. I'm happy for the opportunity. I'm going to go in, make plays and contribute."

Biggers and best friend Louis Delmas -- taken Saturday by the Detroit Lions with the 33rd overall pick -- were the only former Broncos to see their names flash across the television screen this weekend.

The football careers of Simmons, Fryar and tight end Branden Ledbetter, though, aren't over.

Branden Ledbetter

Simmons agreed to a free-agent contract with the Green Bay Packers shortly after the draft. Fryar is headed to the Kansas City Chiefs with a similar deal. Ledbetter said Sunday night that he expects to know his destination sometime today.

That Simmons is joining WMU legend Greg Jennings in Green Bay is no accident. Jennings and his father, Greg Sr., both mentored Simmons as a fledgling and stubborn redshirt freshman receiver during Jennings' senior season.

Simmons then went on to break Jennings' school records for single-season and career catches.

"After the end of the fifth round ... I got with my agent and said, 'It's not looking too good. What are my options in free agency?'" Simmons said.

Baltimore, Cleveland and Green Bay were the most intriguing offers.

"(Green Bay) didn't pick up a receiver (in the draft)," said Simmons, who planned to talk or text with Jennings later Sunday night and reports for minicamp this Thursday. "I thought I'd fit their system with Greg, Donald Driver and those guys. Greg was my mentor.

Jamarko Simmons

"I put God first, talked to my family, and thought this was the best move for me. I knew Greg was there and he's had a real successful career. Not to walk in his footsteps, but I thought it was a real good fit.

"My father and my mother gave me a lot of encouragement: 'Don't let your dreams die here, because it's not the end of the road.' ... I'm going to end up in Wisconsin. I'm a Cheesehead."

Fryar, who soothed his initial disappointment by retreating home to watch a movie with his young son, got the shot at the NFL he wanted, even if it didn't come how he wanted it.

"Kansas City said they were going to take me with the last pick, but they ended up taking a kicker," said Fryar, a cornerback whose first minicamp begins May 7.

Londen Fryar

"I didn't expect not to go (in the draft). But I'm happy for the opportunity. Now I need to go out there and make the team. That's what I need to do."

Biggers, too, was preparing to accept a free-agent offer. Then a call came in from new Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris.

"He asked why it took me so long to answer my phone," said Biggers, who was on a different phone with the Baltimore Ravens. "Then he said, 'We want to take you with the next pick. How do you feel about that?' I said, 'I've been waiting on that since (my) visit.'"

Skeptical, Biggers' former coach at North Miami Beach High School, Jeff Bertani, kept the Ravens on the other line until Biggers' name popped up on TV.

Bertani coached both Biggers and Delmas, and said this weekend shows why he pushes the pipeline with WMU.

"All those who criticize, all the people wondering why our kids continue to go there, all they've got to do is look at a day like today," Bertani said.

The next call to Biggers, after Morris, was from Delmas, who was already in Detroit for a press conference.

"He called me right away and said, 'How you feeling? Congrats. Everything's working for us,'" Biggers said of Delmas. "'We've just got to keep working, go out and do what we do best."